Of course I'd get back from vacation and get sick. I had fly like symptoms for a few days, and it took about two weeks for my chest congestion to clear up enough for me to be able to run again. Back to the gym yesterday, and this time, I have less restrictions. I still have some, like no wide grip pull ups, no deadlifting over 70 kilos, or doing anything heavy, for that matter, but it's better than nothing. I'm also done going to physical therapy, just doing it from home now.

I train in an Olympic lifting gym, and there are a bunch of Oly shoes on shelves for people to use who don't have their own. I was surprised the other day when I found a pair that actually fits me (I'm a size 14). Squatting in them felt great. I could feel my torso staying more upright, and a stronger emphasis in my quads.

When I stopped going to physical therapy a few weeks, I was told not to deadlift over 135 lbs for a while. My doctor also told me I'd probably never do any heavy lifting again. I don't think I'll be listening to them.

Went into the gym the next day to squat. Did my warm up sets and got into my work sets. On my first work set, I started to feel a twinge in my lower back at the bottom of the lift, so after 5 reps I decided to walk away. I've learned the hard way not to push through that. My back ended up tightening up more and more over the next hour or so, to a point that was pretty painful, so I decided to take the next week off and just let it heal.

Went for a run right before the gym and was pretty worn out. I was nervous about trying regular dips, but they felt pretty alright. Cat back lat pulldowns are something I saw on Brandon Lilly's (inventor of the cube method) youtube channel, and thought I'd give them a try. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk5rk1pW1ek. My lats are sore as hell today from them.

I was nervous about deadlifting after my lower back twinge a little over a week ago, but it went fine. I didn't want to push my luck with good mornings, like I would normally do, so I went with hypers instead, and actually got a great pump in my lower back. I wasn't really feeling the hanging leg raises in my abs, so I switched up the exercise. Finished off with reverse hypers as a safety measure.

This was my first attempt at Pendlay rows, and I'm sold. I've been worried about going heavy on dumbbell rows because of my shoulder, and this is a great solution. Extra grip work and still a great back workout, without having to use as heavy weights.

Also, I've started walking every day. First thing in the morning, I walk for an hour, at a brisk pace. It equates to about 4 miles, and it feels good.

Had a friend come into town from Buffalo Thursday morning and stay for the weekend, so I took off from the gym so we could hang out during the day. My collarbone wasn't feeling so hot after deadlifts, so it's probably good I took a few days off.

Just a little update for anyone interested. I haven't given up on lifting. I still have shoulder pain. I haven't been to a doctor, as I still don't have health insurance, but I know I'm definitely not completely healed. I got a new job, which I started Monday. I no longer work nights and crazy hours. Just having a normal schedule makes things so much easier. One of those things is getting into a normal lifting schedule. So I signed up for a gym with two of my friends. My old gym is closed down until further notice, and has been that way for months. So I started lifting again on Monday. I've kept everything light, making sure I don't disturb my shoulder. I have no idea when I'll be fully healed. Hopefully the Obamacare site gets everything straightened out, and I can get insured and get this taken care of. But here's what this week looked like for me.

Everything still feels fine, nothing disturbed. I also just feel so much better being back in the gym. I already feel more spry. Also, a really cool thing about my gym is that even though it's a chain, the guy who owns it is into strongman and powerlifting, so they have bands, chains, two sleds, a log press apparatus, a giant tire and sledge hammer, etc. Not that I'll be using any of that in the near future, but it's nice to know it's there when I'm ready.

I decided to deadlift with the trap bar with fat grips for the time being, seeing as I have to greatly restrict the weight, due to my shoulder. So I might as well build up my grip strength as much as possible. I had to cut my work out just a bit short because I had to go to a work training.